The Linden Tree

In the course of Time, Stories and Legends have been written about our Folk Tree Linde in galore;
much of what is said allows a look at erstwhile Cultures and their ways, their meaning of Life,
their Traditions, their Folklore.

Perhaps the engagement with our Predecessors as well as previous civilizations may inspire us
modern and so forward-oriented people to recognize the meaning and origin of our thinking,
acting, even Life itself and... make some contemplation possible ?
Mrs Tilia is in any case a 'witness of Time' - and its constant change - and invites her human
siblings to listen to her.
As a tour guide, she can tell us a lot of her wisdom from the 'lindian' consciousness and
perspective and, who knows, provide a piece of advice for Life on our way...

With this Tree-portrait, I wish to express my utterance that we humans encounter Trees with
mindfulness and reverence, as In the old Days again.
Brother (sister) Tree of the Plant-kingdom is a living being whose body is bound to a place, but
whose Spirit is free and migrates.

I'd like you to invite to follow me, exploring in an in-depth journey the Linden and her so far mostly
unrecognized wight.
parsifalrain, June 28

As an introduction, let us start our voyage with a book-excerpt, translated from German to English ?
'Living Trees and protective Spirits'

"The general view that the Tree is inhabited by a Spirit being whose Life is bound to that of his birth Tree,
which dwells within it, but can also sometimes leave it in order to wander freely in its environment in an
ethereal form similar to humans or animals, is firmly rooted throughout the earth, regardless of era,
Culture, religion, politics, philosophy or fashion.
This view is one way of dealing with other forms of Life.

1 The Linden Tree

 Do you stop feeding your cat when you've been baptized?

While the Holy Groves dwindled under the influence of the owners of religious and secular power,
individual Trees or even smaller groups retained the status of Free Trees for a long Time, which should not
be lumbered.

No one was allowed to harm such in any way.

Practical reasons for this increased - many Oaks and Beeches, for example, were indispensable for
fattening pigs; Trees marking borders were also important (death penalty in medieval Switzerland for
felling border Firs) - but other Trees, such as Yews or family Lime Trees, were simply 'untouchable' for
older reasons that were not questioned.
'For those who live in Tree do not want to be felled', the Swedes said.

In Finland in the 19th Century, the Oak was called 'God's Tree' and Birch and Rowan were also kept
sacred and planted by the rural population near the house.
A report from 1624 mentions a Grove in Sweden which should have been planted by a giant virgin
(Nature).
In it stood a special Oak, the Gylde-Oak, where 'in the old days' much should have 'haunted'.
Still everyone who passed by greeted the Tree with homage:
'Good morning, Gylde!', 'Good evening, Gylde'.
Everywhere people spoke to the Tree creatures, to the Elder Woman (Mrs Ellhorn, Mrs Holle), to the
Alder Woman, or to the Ash Woman, to name but a few.

Before the felling, loggers asked the Tree for forgiveness.

The early warning should give the Dryad the opportunity to change to another, younger Tree.
Due to the coincidental naming of the Ashtree (Ash) and Ash Wednesday, the Swedes were able to
preserve the old Customs for Ash by declaring it the Ash Wednesday Morning Ritual.
Before Sunrise, because then 'the Spirits are active', the Elders went out to pour Water over the Ash Roots.

All these examples are presented in reports of the 19th Century in their present form - they were still very
much alive.

The connection between Tree Spirit and Wood was gradually seen as the relationship between human
thinking and the body, although the Dryad sometimes leaves the Wood and takes a 'trip'.
In Denmark, the Elder Dryads were known to walk around at dusk and take a look through the windows
on occasion.
While Danish pastors lamented in letters the meaning of the mater sambuci (Latin for 'Elder Mother'), a
North German colleague told of his youth in 1703.
At that time no one would have dared to cut an Elderberry, and if they had to cut him down, they would
say a prayer beforehand: 'Mrs Ellhorn, give me something of your wood, then I will give you something of
mine too, when it grows in the Forest'.

This willingness to one Day give Life to the generous Nature reveals the ancient understanding of Life and
Death as a huge Cycle.
No wonder that the church could hardly bear such behavior and made every effort to change the
situation.

2 The Linden Tree

 The incessant explanation that all Nature Spirits were 'evil' ('demons and devils') slowly showed effect,
the powers of the Tree Spirit, originally regarded as benevolent, were increasingly interpreted negatively.
The attitude changed from 'we thank the Spirits for their Blessings' to' the Spirits harm us if we do not
appease them'.
The formulas for tree prayers changed accordingly in the direction: 'Here I sacrifice to you, do us no
harm!'
Now the church could rightly free people from the burden of their superstition.

Fred Hageneder: 'Der Geist der Bäume - Eine ganzheitliche Sicht ihres unerkannten Wesens' (The Spirit of Trees
- A holistic view of their unrecognized Nature) - printed in German language.
Neue Erde - Verlag, ISBN: 978-3-89090-632-3

I'm often asked how to get closer to Nature and her beings best.
One path is the way of amazement and the opening of the senses to the beauty and wisdom of Nature.
And there are beings here that are most similar to humans - the Trees.
One 'speaks' to Nature - or elementary beings not in the literal sense, but grasps what they mean in a, hmmm
'super-verbally' conceptual space, so to speak on the level of ideas or pure concepts.
One must first learn through long practice to reach into this level and then translate those messages into our
human language.
So, when I have a term at this higher level, then I look for the image that corresponds to it and then translate this
image into the word term(s) of language.
These terms and ideas are absolutely concrete.
They also have something of logic, because many of the Nature entities have a tad of strictly logical.
Those who open themselves lovingly and with interest to Nature's creatures and connect with the beings who
penetrate the Stones, Flowers, Trees and Animals, redeem the beings enchanted in Nature in a mysterious way
through their interest.
Whoever takes himself back and opens to his counterpart without his own intentions creates the space for the
other being to be able to express himself.
Such conversations go on easier if I had something sour before because the sour has a waking gesture.
When you eat sour or bitter food, you wake up; (dried Juniper berries [acinum genus Juniperus] awaken - also
the spirits).
Anyone who eats sweet food can consciously slip away a little.
Sweet things go in the direction of dreaminess, sourness and bitterness opens you so that the I can get through
better.
For once we look behind the curtain of the physical world - so that we learn to appreciate anew the great service
that enlivened Nature provides for us humans.

I hope that our journey with and about Mrs Tilia is an enrichment for you to understand the nature of the
Lime Tree, the Trees par excellence, both in more detail and to reopen to Mother Nature.
And if on your next walk you no longer walk passively or unconcerned past the next Tree, but stop, look at
her/him, open up and perhaps remember details of our journey together, then our Lime-Tree succeeded in
building a small bridge between Nature beings and man.

3 The Linden Tree

Lime [genus Tilia], Limetree, Linden Tree (Family Lindenaceae or Tiliaceae) genetically overriding
belonging to to the Mallow family [Malvaceae] (Angiosperme Plants)
common names
Linden, August Lime, Lime Tree, Bast Tree, Bast Wood Lime, Basswood, Hard Lime, Spring Lime, Summer
Lime, Late Lime, Stone Lime, Forest Lime, Winter Linden, Linde

Mrs Tilia is not related to the citrus Fruit called 'Lime' [Citrus aurantifolia], family Rutaceae.

To get atuned, let us rest a little and listen to a melody played in an old English way by Jürgen Wagner
'Linden': ca. 3 Minutes https://yadi.sk/d/ENT3BTtv3XfY9c

The Lime Tree is one of the most beautiful and popular deciduous Trees in Europe.
However, we no longer find her in the Woods, but in parks, on roadsides, on village squares and meadows.
She grows throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere as Tree or Bush and in Asia and is
hermaphroditic, having perfect Flowers with both male and female parts, pollinated by insects.

country lore (in case of thunderstorm)

Thou shalt abate Oak,
You should look for Beech -
If you just can't find Linden
(vernacular)

4 The Linden Tree

Mrs Tilia agreed with me that without going into the more than 50 individual species worldwide,
I would like to try to make the Cultural and Mythological depth of this Tree accessible to the
gentle reader.
The Lime Tree has always been considered one of the most important Tree species in European Cultural
History.
It has long been the favorite Tree of the people and is not a Tree of the 'arrived', the establishment, such as
Oak or Ash.

'Where would a Lime Tree be in German lands - and certainly it is in others countries as well - under
which there would not be a settee or next to which there would not be a chapel? The beauty of her
structure, the flysheet of her shadow and the sociable humming in her branches invite'.

- Adalbert Stifter

Like all deciduous Tree species, the Lime Tree appears in geological history in the Cretaceous period 130
million Years ago and therefore outlasts human History by eons.

The Lime Tree has a very special significance for humans.

From the Forests, she was brought to the villages and cities where she could grow excellently as a single Tree.
This gave man a 'motherly' Tree personality, with Heart-shaped Leaves, sweet Blossom scent and expansive
crown, which has a special attraction and gives a feeling of comfort.
(Although Trees of the same species like to live together 'in families' out of all kinds of' 'practical
considerations', she is not particularly fond of the neighborhood with other Linden Trees).

Already in the early Days, the Celts surrounded their places of worship with Winter Lime Trees.
The importance of the Linden as a Tree of lovers can still be found today in many Folk Songs and Customs
confirmed:
'where we gather neath' the Tilia Trees, at evening time' ... or in the Middle Ages Walther von der

5 The Linden Tree

Vogelweide wrote about Love under the Linden
video: by Dulamans Vröudenton from Salzburg/Austria (in english, deutsche Übersetzung von
Mittelhochdeutsch hier)

'… and sweetly sang the nightingale' (tandaradei)

and Heinrich Heine said,

'Look at this Lime Leaf! You will find it - shaped like a Heart, - that's why the lovers - also
preferably sit under Lime Trees'.

In the old German card game first mentioned in 1472, the Linden Leaf shows the free peasantry.
In the 16th Century, the physician Lonitzer wrote in his New Kräuterbuch:

'Linde has the name [from her] 'Limelike-ness'

(lime-) in the sense of 'soft' or soothing)

The Lime Tree or a Leaf of her is considered an icon of justice, Love, Peace and loyalty and has a very
special meaning in German-speaking countries as a sign for the formidable values Homeland and Family, as
a place of Community.
Aside from that, she's a symbol of the free status of landowners and cattle breeders.
1852 there were decrees of the royal government of Upper Bavaria for the protection and replanting of
Lime Trees.
Burial grounds and monuments were and are often shadowed by Linden Trees.
In 1991 an imperial Lime Tilia Pallidia was planted in the Thuringian town of Niederdorla, the
topographical center of all of Germany, as a sign of German reunification.

6 The Linden Tree

Also in memory of the reunification an imperial Lime Tree was planted near the Reichstag on October 05,

video: Franz Schubert - Der Lindenbaum (Winterreise, D.911,5)

1990.
Further Linden were planted along the former inner-German border to commemorate the peaceful changes
within the GDR.
Nature and environmentalists use her as symbols, such as BUND Nature Conservation in Bavaria, which
was founded in 1913.
To cut down an old Lime Tree without good reason would probably still give rise to indignation today.

'If we see riders halting under the Lime Tree, this would be a sign of Peace.
Because under the Lime Tree we tend to drink, dance, be happy, because Mrs Tilia is the Tree of Peace
and Joy'.

- Martin Luther

The (Summer) - Lime is the Plant that, with her flowering, announces the Full Summer in the
physiologically and biologically based 'Phenological Seasons'.
In many villages she can be found in the village square (if there is not already a shopping center replacing
the Linden as the former meeting place for conversation and relaxation).
You are welcome to sit down here, she is also a wonderful shade provider.
As the original Tree of our formerly great Culture, the Lime tree is connected to Venus.
And Venus is Aphrodite.
The Indo-Germanic language root 'lentos' emphasizes - in contrast to the firm Oak with his enormous tap
root - her special flexibility and elasticity, her feminine grace.
Lime Trees have a so-called Heart-root, which carefully embeds itself in the soil via several main roots.
What the Oak embodies in male symbolic power, the Lime shows on the other side:
She stands for femininity, sweetness, fertility, Summer, cheerfulness, beauty and Love.

A strong Earth energy emanates from Mrs Tilia, and it is no coincidence that the power of the Dragon has
found its pictorial expression in the name Lindwurm (Lindworm).
With its pristine Dragon power it guards Mother Earth at the foot of the Lime Tree.

7 The Linden Tree

In the Eifel, the 'May-marriage' auctions for Maids took place under the Lime Trees at the (annual) parish
fair (Kirchweih), where a man was able to buy the privilege of going to all Feasts with this Maid for a Year.
If it turned out during the Year that the Maid was not worthy of this award (no virginity!), the Linden was
'scrubbed'; that is, the lawn or the pavement around the trunk had to be renewed.

In Germanic Mythology, her heart-shaped Leaf is associated with the Goddess Freya, an allegory of Love
and Fertility.
From the Freya Lime Tree, by the - forced catholization, this name was transformed to 'Marian Lime Tree',
more to this below.

Who does not know the scent of Lime Blossom ?

A vivid impression of the beguiling effect comes during the Lime Blossom Season in June, when crowds of
humming insects populate the nectar-rich Flowers of the Limes to form a cosmic body of sound.

'Nature is wasteful in the number of Flowers. A Lime Tree is full of them'.

image: banarama.files

Basswood, the Folk Tree

Social life took place around the village Tree.
In earlier times, court was held beneath Lime Trees.
The squabblers were - infatuated with the Lime Blossom fragrance - to reach out and join hands in the
village Feast.
Some judgments ended with the final formula:
'Given under the Linden … !'
In some villages are still such courts and dance Linden (for weddings and other Festivals in the Wheel of
the Year)

8 The Linden Tree

More here and here.

Markedly court Trees are called 'Femelinden'.

Meetings of the local councils were also held under their roof.
They took decisions, held elections, administered taxes and governed the people.
It was also the Tree of gathering and exchange of messages.

Many of the Linden Trees react very sensitively to car exhaust fumes and really suffer from air pollution,
which is why nowadays some ancient Linden Trees have disappeared on village squares and crossroads.

Mrs Tilia can live for more than a thousand Years due to her special ability:
Although she become rotten at an early stage and cavities form inside, she forms inner Roots from the
Treetop down that feed on the Tree's own decomposition products.
These inner Roots can become so thick that they in turn fill the cavity created by decay with wood mass
and a new bark.
Thus an aging Lime tapers again.
And again, this is a sign of the Cycle of Life: Birth, Growth (Regeneration), Death.

This brings us to the healing properties and benefits for the people
Linden wood is soft, light and long fibrous with a fine structure.
Due to its softness and elasticity it is particularly suitable for carving and turnery and has been used since
long for images of saints and altars.
It was used for making wooden shoes, bowls, spoons and other household appliances as well as for the
soundboards of pianos and organs.
Due to its properties, it is excellently suited as carving wood and also has its main use there.
In our Forests but she is no longer planted because her wood does not achieve good prices.

'The Lime Tree radiates cordialness and warmth in her appearance'

Accordingly, the healing effect of her Flowers and Leaves, which can alleviate some pathological complaints'.

Lime bark can be used well for Smudging Ceremonies and also provides bast for tying and twining,
clothing, bowstrings, beehives and saddlery.

The Bark of the Lime is rich in bast fibres, which can be easily removed in strips.
Since time immemorial, this woody shell has been placed in cold water, similar to flax production.
This allows pure bast to be separated, dried in the Sun and then processed.

please note:
Always consult a doctor before using healing remedies and read disclaimer at the end of my abstract.

Linde is an outstanding Sunlight collector

Lime Blossom Tea and honey products as well as fragrance essences and cosmetics are extracted from this
Tree.
Especially young Lime Leaves are mild, nutritious and tasty and can be used in salads.
One only has to consider that Lime Leaves suck liquid.

9 The Linden Tree

Older Leaves are no less valuable, but require more chewing work.
The Leaves of the Linden Tree were already known in antiquity as a medicine:
Hardly anything is as strongly underestimated as the positive properties of the Plant dye chlorophyll.
It contains Sunshine - Light energy: Biophotons that encourage the body in many Life-supporting
processes.
They transfer high-quality Light energies from the Cosmos straightforwardly into cells and tissues of the
body and sustainably promote cell respiration and cell metabolism.
Chlorophyll also significantly supports the precise function of the brains, the nervous, hormonal and
cellular systems.
Wherever it is present, there is always cell-available, cell-permeable (and thus organically) iron and
magnesium.
The stronger the colors, the more iron, the richer the green, the more magnesium.
As early as 1913, the chemist Richard Willstätter recognized that chlorophyll is able to build up living
substances from dead matter with the help of the Sunlight stored in it.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1915 for his work in analyzing the molecular structure of chlorophyll.

'The Linden
The powerful chose the Oak,
The eagle, lions on top of that
The people planted a Lime Tree
They met there and had rest

People used to dance to some of the Festivities

Her roof sheltered all of the guests
Her scent awakened their Hearts
And has delighted Lovers

The village courts met there

And she was happy to be consulted
A Tree of Life was in the middle
Wasn't the Deity here with her?

She alleviated the needs of the sick

She stood by side of the sad
She protected house and farm, Family
With the lonely, she was à deux'
- Jürgen Wagner

ethnobotanical
The Lime represents a motherly, warm being.
She spreads her arms wide to receive the man in her bosom.
Mrs Tilia is a symbol of cordiality, security and nest warmth.
With these characteristics she has conquered the sympathy of the people since earliest Time.

10 The Linden Tree

Of all indigenous Tree species, the Linden Tree helps us to awaken the dormant Nature in us - and to take a
path of healing due to her deep, parable-like collective memory of human beings.

It is not for nothing that the German word 'Linderung' (alleviation) is anchored in vocabulary.
In times of unrestrained overexploitation of Nature, she really offers us comfort and protection under her
buzzing canopy of leaves:

'When we gather neath' the T ilia T rees'.

'No fairer Land
There is no land, near and far,
More beautiful than ours at this time
When we gather
Neath' the Tilia Trees
As night falls...'

How deeply Tilia is rooted in Folk Life is also shown by the large number of field- and Family names.
The Linden Tree gave her name to many towns, villages, streets (and restaurants) and also went into many
coats of arms as an adjunct of bravery and victory, as well as into those of some German noble families.
About 1100 villages have their name in the German-speaking area: Lindau, Linden, Lindenwood or
Lindenthal.
Linz is the Linden-grove, Leipzig comes from Lipkso and means Linden-site.
Linn near Brugg owes its name to a Centuries-old Tree that is still alive today.
The Celtic and Old French 'til' is the origin of place names in western Switzerland such as Tilliez, Montillez
or Muntelier.
Lindner, Lindacher, Lindenfels, Lindenberg, Terlinden, Lindström are common surnames...
Even different names of girls remind of the Lime Tree: Gerlinde, Gieslinde, Sieglinde and many more.

In former times there were numerous avenues, which had existed on both sides with Tilia Trees, street
names still point to it today:
'Unter den Linden' or 'Linden Avenue'.
With increasing road traffic, however, the population of Lime Trees declined sharply - they do not tolerate
car and industrial exhaust fumes, and atrophy.

In Sweden, Families had their protection Trees.

The Linné, Lindelius and Tiliander Families derived their names from the same three-stemmed Lime Tree.
When the Lindelius ceased, one of the shafts dried up; after the last daughter of the famous botanist Linné
had died childless, the second did not shoot out any more, and when the Tiliander family died out, the
whole Tree passed away....
For the Nibelungen hero Siegfried, too, the Lime Tree was a Tree of fate: 'as Siegfried bathed invulnerably
in the blood of the slain dragon, a Lime Leaf clung to his shoulder, preventing complete protection, and
under a Lime Tree he died from the hand of the fierce Hagen'.

The botanical name is related to the Greek tilos, fiber.

The richness of bast fibres in the Bark is a speciality of the Lime Tree.
The pile dwellers once woven their clothes of linen fibres and Linden bast.

11 The Linden Tree

Lime bast porridge was used to ease (lindern) burns.

Today there are reinforced concrete-multi-purpose halls in the villages; in former Times there were Lime
Trees.
The Village-Lime Tree (Dorflinde) is defined in Meyer's dictionary of conversation:
'The Summer Lime Tree, which often only blooms at the age of 15-30 Years, was the classic center of the
villages, the meeting point in the place where people's social Life took place'.
In some places she was even converted into a 'dance hall' - the wide branches of the 'Dance Lime Tree' were
formed - often over Decades - into horizontal wreaths of Branches.
Boards were laid over it, along with railings, ladders and supporting posts - and the outdoor dance hall was
ready.
'It was already full around the Linden and everything was already dancing, how great' wrote Goethe.

The Linden gave shelter from thunderstorms and evil spirits.

Forms of disease were transmitted to the Lime Tree (sympathetic Plant) i.e.:

'Gout flow, thou shalt stand, thou shalt go by, shall disappear, like the foliage of the Linden'.

An oath was sworn under Linden, where the court took place and where deliberations were held.
Many documents prove the old 'judicum sub Tilia', which was practiced until the end of the 18th Century.
It was believed that the pure Truth came to Light under the sacred Tree.

'Blood-Linden' bear witness to unfair convicts:

The legend of the Blood-Linde from Wiesbaden-Frauenstein/Germany
Near Wiesbaden stands a huge Linden Tree at the Frauenstein Castle, from which the Legend goes that once
sadness took place in its place.
A young Lady loved a lad who was not coequal to her, and often met him strolling outside the castle in the
evening, in a shady spot near the castle wall.
Then her hard and proud father perceived these meetings, was furious, surprised the lovers and slew the
lover with his own hand.
The daughter broke a young Linden-Sprout, stuck it through the running blood of her lover in the ground
and never again spoke a single word to her father.
Every Day she cried for her slain lover, but Linden's Sprout struck Roots and shoot and became a Tree, and
as long as the grieving lover lived and cried, blood flowed from the Linden-Tree's branches as someone tore
off a Leaf or Branch.
But no one did that anymore, for the people stood in awe, and so the Blood-Linde grew to a mighty height
and thickness, and four men can barely embrace the Tree.
- Ludwig Bechstein - Deutsches Sagenbuch, Leipzig, Georg Wigand, 1853
(Today the age of the Lindentree is estimated by the Nature Conservation authority at 800 Years).

Did you know that the Lime Tree is a Plant with play-value ?
When you're out and about with children in the great outdoors, you can engage them in simple games that
we've played as children, pointing out the beauty of Nature in the most beautiful colors:
The smaller Winter Lime, one of the best bee pastures, offers good carving lumber; the Fruits of the larger

12 The Linden Tree

Summer Lime can be used as small 'helicopters'...
In both Lime Trees, the matt-green Leaves turn bright-yellow in Autumn.

The Germanic and Slavic peoples regarded the Linden next to the Oak as a sacred Tree whose wood was
used for ritual cremation of the dead.
As said above, the Oak, however, has generally always been attributed to the authorities and was never ever
the Tree that inspired Mankind.
In German-speaking countries this function was performed by the Linde.
People lived with her.

According to Sigmund Freud, in the dream interpretation (oneirocriticism), Lime stands for healing and as
a place of strength to recharge one's batteries.

In Legends, Linden Trees often appear as a meeting place for the so-called 'Witches'.
In the course of Christianisation, the Freya Lime Tree became the Marian Lime Tree, to which pilgrimages
also took place, where some 'Leaves possessing sacred power' were taken along.
The Lime Tree was considered in the Middle Ages as the holy Roman empire's bee pasture and stood under
strict spell, because at that time honey was the only sweetener.
The wax was also used for altar candles, writing tablets or seals.
Even today, the catholic church demands beeswax for the sacrificial candles and the Lime Tree is an
important beekeeping Plant for apiculturists.

My grandmother had a wall hanging in the veranda with the song 'Am Brunnen vor dem Tore' on it.
We used to sing it with her when we were kids.

The Linden Tree in the art of healing

'The Water burned from the Flower is highly praised against the falling addiction [epilepsia] of the
young children: but if one wants this potion a little bit stronger one should add one third of peony
Water (peony) [Paeonia officinalis]. It is also used otherwise against the stroke, dizziness and other
cold behaviors of the brain. If the stroke has hit, take Lime Blossom Water and black cherry water
(black wild cherry) [Prunus avium ssp. Avium], mix them together and drink one ounce each time
(about 0.03 liters). This Water drunk, is good for the diseased intestines, is given by some also for
the stomach. The Water of Lime Blossom exterminates the patches in the face'.
- recommended Tabernaemontanus ( Jakob Dietrich) in 1625.

collecting tips
The Tree Blossoms for a few days between June and July, then everything must go quickly:
After harvesting or collecting - depending on whether it is your Tree or you are in the Wild - you dry the
Flowers, until they take on a yellow-green color.
(Picking and quickly on the shade, laid out on a linen cloth, dry).
The mature, open Flowers exude an incredible fragrance and indicate that they should now be picked in just
four Days.
The concentration of active ingredients is highest during this time.

13 The Linden Tree

Do not just collect the single Flower, but also the almost translucent Bract.
Only pick as much as you need for a Year, because the healthy ingredients volatilize on prolonged storage.
Since the Linden Flowers are very sensitive to Light and air, you should dry them quickly and keep them in
dense and light-protected - or in dark glasses.
From the end of May you can pick their tender Leaves, from July their flowers and later, when the Seeds
have turned brown, these too.

that's how the Linden Tree helps you

The diverse healing range of Linde is really impressive (mentioning just a few fields of operation)
rheumatism, lumbago and gout pain relieving
migraine and headache
stomach and abdominal pain
lowers blood pressure
soothing
soporific
carminative
diuretic
antipyretic
soothing to cough
anti-inflammatory for sore throat
preventively to increase the immune defense
refreshing and against hot flashes during menopause

In Naturopathy, Lime Blossoms are used to prevent colds, are an important remedy for flu and fever; a Tea
of Lime Blossom drives sweat, stimulates appetite, has a nerve-soothing, anxiolytic and -> therefore sleep-
promoting effect, in rheumatism (the Lime can also help when conjuring – (invoke) the Tree in gout),
lumbago, indigestion, as well as kidney and bladder stones.
Lime blossoms are also antispasmodic.

Lime Blossom Tea

A 'House Tea' from the Lime Blossom is prepared from granny's pharmacy, which can also be mixed with
other Herbs.
The Lime Blossom Tea, which is popular with children and adults, tastes very mild and smells like the
Flowers at the time of collection.
Add 10 g dried or fresh Lime Blossoms to boiling Water and leave to stand for 5 minutes.
Pour through a sieve in cups and sweeten with real bee-honey.
Drunk hot in Winter and cold in Summer, it is very refreshingly garnished with Peppermint Leaves [folium
Mentha piperta].
If you double the amount of Flowers, it is a shvitz healing potion for colds.
The anti irritating-cough effect is due to the amount of mucilage contained in the Lime Blossoms.
It also contains high levels of essential oils, manganese, tannins, Vitamin C, Vitamin P (which is important
for the energy balance in the body cells, it inhibits inflammation and detoxifies the body).

14 The Linden Tree

Caution: Long-term applications with Lime Blossom Tea (over 6 to 8 Weeks) should be avoided, as
sensitive persons could react with nervous heart complaints.
Generally, no Tea preparation should be drunk for more than 6 to a maximum of 8 Weeks as it may lead
to an accustoming effect.
It is therefore worth considering whether taking a Tea that has not achieved the desired result even after 6
Weeks is effective and whether another Tea preparation or other form of therapy would be appropriate.
However, in case of prolonged symptoms, I strongly recommend to consult an experienced physician,
Homeopath or alternative practitioner in Naturopathy !

Lime Blossom Syrup

To do this, boil 840 g of brown sugar in 1.5 L of water.
Add 150 g organic honey and a handful of fresh lime blossom.
Allow the syrup to cool.
Add 2 slices of organic lemon and 30 g of citric acid (drugstore or pharmacy) and leave to soak in a cool,
dark place covered for 5 days.
Then strain the syrup into dark bottles.
Closed tight, it lasts about ½ year in the fridge.
source of this recipe

Lime Tincture
To make a Lime Blossom Tincture yourself, pour a double-grain or wine spirit over Lime Blossoms in a
screw cap glass until all parts of the Plant are covered and leave the mixture closed for 2 to 6 Weeks.
Strain and pour into a dark bottle.
Take 10-50 drops of this Tincture once to three times daily.
If the Tincture is too concentrated for you, you can dilute it with Water.

A Tincture is a Herbal extract with the help of alcohol.

You can either use a commercial double grain with 40% vol or, slightly more expensive, buy 70% or even
90% alcohol in the pharmacy.
For cost reasons, I usually use the common double grain myself and I am very satisfied with it.
Such a self-made Tincture lasts for one Year without any problems, with cool storage much longer.
Collect a glass full of Lime Blossoms.
Pour a high-proof clear liquor (e.g. double grain or vodka) over it until everything is covered.
Close the glass.
Put it in a sunny, warm place
Wait 10 Days to 6 Weeks (the longer it stands, the stronger the Tincture becomes)
Filter the Tincture (e.g. with coffee filter).
Pour it into a dark bottle.
Label the bottle with content and date
(Important: it is very easy to forget what is inside when there is no label on it).
You can then take 3 x 10-50 drops of the finished Tincture.
Or use the Tincture in ointments or gels.

15 The Linden Tree

external applications
Linden Tea or diluted Tincture can be used externally in the form of Compresses (Envelopes), Baths or
Washes.
With this kind of application one can promote the healing of wounds.
Linde is also used externally against furuncles and other abscesses - Envelopes with Lime Blossom Tea can
promote ripening.

Ablutions with Lime Blossom Tea

The facial wash with unsweetened, lukewarm Lime Blossom Tea is suitable for the treatment of
inflammatory skin and helps to a rosy complexion.

A Bath with Lime Blossoms has a relaxing effect (boil the Flowers, strain, add the liquid to the Bath Water).
Suitable (also) for smudging mixed with Marigold [Calendula officinalis], Raspberry [Rubus idaeus] and
Coltsfoot [Tussilago farfara].

Linden as a Life-facilitator
The simplest use is the addition of Lime Blossoms -and Seeds on bread or in salad.
You can also cut young Leaves into small pieces and use them in desserts such as quark and yoghurt or add
them to your smoothie.
But her Flowers, Leaves, Seeds and Bark can do much more !
Find out what !

The Lime for inhalation

Inhalation with Lime Blossoms helps with colds, catarrh or a mild bronchitis.
For an optimal effect you can use the following mixture with other medicinal Herbs:
Mix 40 g Lime Blossoms, 30 g Camomile Blossoms [Matricaria chamomilla, syn.: Matricaria recutita], 15 g
Sage Leaves [Salvia officinalis] and 15 g Thyme Herb [Thymus vulgaris].
Use three tablespoons each of this mixture and pour over 500 ml of hot, non boiling Water.
Used three times a Day, inhalation quickly provides relief.

Lime Blossom Oil ...

... is a mild care product for the treatment of inflammatory skin areas, sunburn, inflammations in the genital
area and haemorrhoids.
Mix 1 handful of dried Lime Blossoms (and/or Seeds) in a dark colored glass jar with 2 deciliters of
organic almond or native olive oil extra and place in the heat or simply in the Sun for 10 Days.
Then filter off and fill into sterile bottles.
If necessary, the inflamed skin or mucous membrane areas can be gently rubbed with this oil in the morning
and evening.

Elixir of the Lime Tree

Each Tree has an individual vibration potential, similar to the radiance of ornamental Flowers and Wild
Flowers.
Similar to the production of Bach Flower Essences, these subtle energies of the Trees can be impregnated in
aqueous media.

16 The Linden Tree

Such incorporeal vibration essences are often a valuable help in case of pathological disorders and
emotional crises of Humans.
They are used in therapy according to the homeopathic principle 'similar things are cured with similar
things'.
This can positively influence emotional discomfort, disharmonious internal states and mood disorders in
forms of illness.

The treated person returns to his inner center, feels more balanced and harmonious.
However, the prerequisite is the choice of the correct therapeutic oscillation pattern.
For this, the symbolic Tree characters must be analogized with the individual disposition of the human
being.
Related to the Lime Tree, the Tree symbolizes friendly, calm, composed, gentle, yielding (well in the sense of
flexibility), warm-hearted, well-disposed, accessible, diplomatic, sociable personalities with a congenial
charisma.

In their open, tolerant and casual manner, however, they can often be deeply hurt and offended by today's
dominant raw, selfish lifestyle of modern society.
A Linden Tree Elixir is recommended for the elimination of emotional complaints and disturbed well-being.
It has the power to bring back and harmonize the snubbed emotional levels.
From the Linden Tree Essence (available at Fortisana, Gütschstrasse 6, 6312 Steinhausen, Switzerland, Tel.
041 740 22 86) 5 drops are taken every 2nd Evening diluted in a little Water before going to bed for 4
Weeks or longer.
More information about the effect of Tree Elixirs can be found in the peerless but written so far only in
German book by Doris and Sven Richter 'Der Geist in den Bäumen spricht...'
(name of the book translated 'The Spirit in the Trees speaks...', Joy-Edition, Steinhausen ISBN: 3952128910

see also 'Tilia - die Lindenessenz in der lebenskundlichen und der energetischen Spagyrik'
('Tilia - the Lime Essence in Life and energy spagyric poetry')
(Only recently has a Google account been required to access this page - I'm very sorry !!)

addendum
300 Years she comes, 300 Years she stands, 300 Years she passes (vernacular)
A Tree veteran is the Wolframslinde in Ried, Lower Bavaria.
The poet Wolfram von Eschenbach (1170-1220) is said to have written his 'Parsifal' in her shadow.
Other today existing, listed (as a historic monument protected) Tree veterans stand as living witnesses of
past times, big with fate.
Many have survived wars, forces of Nature, climatic episodes *) or Epidemics **) and are provided with
appropriate wound marks and scratches.

the Linden literary

A literary and delicious recipe to 'find lost time' comes from Marcel Proust, who dipped the sound of a
(petite) madeleine in Linden Flower Tea, which was key to the lost time of his childhood (-:

17 The Linden Tree

The Linden Tree is suitable for carving Hearts in her ... (which will sure hurt a bit) ... to let future
generations know who planted the Tree (or as we manifested this wonderful Tree in our garden-paradise
and that we really loved each other)

*) Climate epochs of the last 1.200 Years

• a warm period from the 9th to the 11th Century, the Medieval Warm Period and the Medieval
Climate Optimum (with multiple Harvests each Year)
• a cool climate from the 14th to the 19th Century, the Little Ice Age, and
• again a slightly warmer phase in the 20th Century until about 1970. (watch the short video The
Coming Ice Age - Climate Hysteria Circa 1978)

**) During the European plague pandemic from 1347 to 1353 following a sudden, unexpected Little Ice Age
- as historians estimate, 25 million people lost their lives - a third of the population at that time - not
counted Asia and Africa.

18 The Linden Tree

 Thank you for accompanying Mrs Tilia and me in our ethnobotanical trip.
It is up to you to regard Tilia as a natural wonder and turn to advantage what you may have
experienced during the course of this excursion.

'Our whole world is traversed by countless natural, astral and spiritual beings.
These beings do not want to be ignored by man, but recognized and considered.
And they have a lot to tell!'
- Wolfgang Weirauch

Disclaimer
This information is supplied without liability, limit or warranty.
Please note - this healing recipes may be subject to change and are without guarantee – always contact a
Medical doctor before the application !
and
The information in this article has been carefully reviewed by me.
However, I decline any liability for any damage or consequences arising from the use or misuse of the
information I have provided.

I do not give any medical advice.

If you have serious health problems, you should refrain from self-medication and seek the advice of a
Medical doctor or alternative practitioner.

Some Wild Plants are protected regionally, consult the Nature conservation authorities.
Collect only individual Plants, so that the stock remains !
Remember – you can only harvest something which belongs to you !

all images from Wikipedia, Wikimedia or self-made unless otherwise stated

previous
Plants in the Wheel of the Year - June
Summer Solstice - Litha - June 21

next
Reapers Festival - Lammas – Lughnasad
Plants in the Wheel of the Year - July and August

deutsche Version hier

https://yadi.sk/i/NdjsY5VZ3YaiEP

http://www.lovingenergies.net/pt/The-Linden-Tree/blog.htm

19 The Linden Tree

 'I find very reasonable the Celtic belief that souls of our dearly departed are trapped in some inferior
being, in an animal, a Plant, an inanimate object, indeed lost to us until the Day, which for some
never arrives, when we find that we pass near the Tree, or come to possess the object which is their
prison. Then they quiver, call us, and as soon as we have recognized them, the spell is broken. Freed
by us, they have vanquished death and return to live with us'.

- Marcel Proust (1871–1922)

20 The Linden Tree